Election's Case Studies

Question 1

What was the political context for the 1979 General Election?

Answer 1

• Followed the 1978-9 Winter of Discontent Strikes
• Labour Leader James Callaghan faced Thatcher

Question 2

What was the result of the 1979 General Election?

Answer 2

Conservative win with a 43 seat majority

Question 3

What were the voting behaviour patterns observed in the 1979 General Election?

Answer 3

• Middle Class more likely to vote Conservative; Working class more likely to vote Labour
• All ages more likely to vote Conservative apart from 18-24
• Woman slightly more likely to vote Conservative than Labour - men equally likely to vote (Thatcher Factor)

Question 4

What was the influence on the media in the 1979 General Election?

Answer 4

It was the first time the Sun endorsed the Conservatives, with the blatant title “VOTE TORY THIS TIME”

Question 5

What was the impact of party policies and manifestos

Answer 5

• The Conservatives focused on getting the economy going again, lowering unemployment and preventing strike disruption
• Conservative tax cuts and the Right to Buy scheme (giving council tenants the right to buy their council house at a heavily discounted price) were popular with voters

Question 6

What was the impact of campaigns and leadership

Answer 6

• Conservatives hired marketing agency Saatchi and Saatchi to run their campaign - “Labour isn’t working” - “Don’t just hope for a better life; Vote for one”
• Callaghan was personally beating Thatcher in head to head approval rating
• Thatcher was personally quite unpopular, and Callaghan was beating her head to head in opinion polls

Question 7

What was the impact of the election on policy

Answer 7

Thatcher’s majority allowed her to begin transforming Britain by privatising public industries, reducing union strikes, and adopting a monetarist economic policy

Question 8

What was the political context for the 1997 General Election?

Answer 8

• The conservatives had been in power since 1979 and Major’s government had been tainted with sleaze
• Labour had moved to the centre since Blair became leader in 1994

Question 9

What was the result of the 1997 General Election?

Answer 9

Labour landslide 418 seats

Question 10

What were the voting patterns observed in the 1997 General Election?

Answer 10

• Labour made big gains among the middle class and skilled working class
• All ages more likely to vote Labour apart from over 65
• 70% of BAME voters supported Labour compared to 43% of white voters

Question 11

What was the influence on the media on the 1997 General Election

Answer 11

• The Sun endorsed Labour
• Alastair Campbell managed Labour’s interactions with the media to ensure the daily stories kept overage ‘on message’

Question 12

What was the impact of party policies and manifestos on the 1997 General Election

Answer 12

• Labour had economic centrist policies
• The Third Way was designed to appeal to a broad range of voters
• ## Education, Education, Education